What Does ‘Discovery’ Mean? I think discovery means to learn, because you find out new things. Discovery is important because we would not know what dinosaurs were and what it was like back then without it. It means trying new things out. Here is an example of me finding dinosaur bones in the desert. If we did not discover what we had discovered earlier, we would not know as much to day.
Cooperating and Collaborating ...
The SP Discoverers Team Banner
The SP Discoverers Team Video
The Engineering Design Process ...
Crusie Arcade Game - Spaceman vs. Alien: Research Paper
Identify the Problem
How can we, as Caine has inspired, demonstrate through teamwork our imagination, determination, and passion for creativity and innovation, with our own arcade constructions? Explore What Makes an Effective Professional Arcade Game?
I researched a game called Rollin' to find out what makes an effective professional arcade game. The creator is Burkhard Ratheiser. You control a rolling ball on a platform that is moving and has holes in it. You are on the platform, and you must avoid the holes as the ball rolls. You can jump over the holes with the space bar and move with the arrow keys to avoid the holes. The game directions are located at the bottom of the screen. I think the level of difficulty is a 4 out of a 4 star rating. You win the game by moving from level to level to get to the end of the game. When you win the game, you can play again.
The materials I think you need to build the game are a lot of cardboard, tape, glue, and scissors. I think it would cost $25 to build the game and about $30 to buy the game.
The title of the game is Rollin, and the URL address is: http://ww1.freearcade.com/Rollin.jav/Rollin.html. Design Brief
What is the Concept Design of My Crusie Arcade Game?
We are building an arcade game called Spaceman vs. Alien. You play the game with a partner. The objective of the game is you need to push the opponent back in to a bell. The rules of the game will be displayed on each player’s side. We think that this game’s level of difficulty is 3 out of 1-4. You win the game by pushing the opponent’s character into a bell, then the bell will ring, and that will show you win. You will win the game and be given 5 tickets. If you have 5 tickets you can get a small prize. If you have more than 10 tickets you can get a big prize.
Our blueprint shows a good look at what our game looks like. The blueprint shows the characters on each side of the box, and our game takes place on the moon. There is a slot in the middle of the box where you can push the characters back and forward. There is a bell located on each side of the box.
A few materials that are going to be in our game are, cardboard, tape, bottle caps, foam balls, 3 bells, scissors, and a few prizes. We think that it would take at least 10 classes to build this game. Some problems that we foresee happening would be we lose parts, a part breaks off, and if a piece does not work. If anything does happen we would shut down the game until we fix it. If that does not happen we would not have to worry about anything.
Create What are the Stages of the Building Process? "It Began" ... "It Transformed" ... "It Became" ... "It Will Be" (PowerPoint) Try It Out What were the Results of Testing Our Game? Examiner: Mrs. Horst
Date: 1/31/13
Praise: Very impressive! I like how you used the pennies to balance the characters. I love how the tickets come out of the box. I like how your prizes are organized and liked the game.
Question: Could you possibly move the bells closer together so the characters do not get stuck in the middle.
Polish: Maybe consider labeling the bells.
Student Comment: Thank you, my partner and I worked very hard on Spaceman vs. Alien. We also worked hard to balance the characters. The tickets were not as hard to put in because we just needed to cut a slot in the box. I do not understand what you mean by maybe move the bells closer together so the characters do not get stuck in the middle, but if we talk again you can explain it to me. That is a good idea to label the bells because someone might think it is something else.
Examiner: Mrs. Dunn
Date: 2/4/13
Praise: Amazing! Love the idea and the characters.
Question: Did you have fun making it? Was it hard?
Polish: Make directions more clear.
Student Comment: Thank you, we got the idea for Spaceman vs. Alien from Rock’em Sock’em Robots. We got the characters from our imagination. I did have fun making the game, and it was hard to make because it started to fall apart some times. I do think the directions do need to be clearer because someone might not understand them and they could break the game.
Examiner: Mrs. Koska
Date: 1/31/13
Praise: Love the death zone, safe zone. Love how you got the idea. I like how you work together.
Question: How did you get the idea for the game, Rock’em Sock’em Robots.
Polish: Toughen opponents so they will not fall apart.
Student Comment: Thank you; it took a while… for the idea of Spaceman vs. Alien to come to mind. We liked working with each other, too. We did get the idea from Rock’em Sock’em Robots. I do think we need to toughen up the opponents so they do not break.
Sketch ofProfessional Arcade Game "Rollin'":
Orthographic Design for Crusie Arcade Game:
PowerPoint for Creation of Crusie Arcade Game:
Crusie Arcade Game Examinations:
Make It Better How Can We Make the Crusie Arcade Game Better? Reflection on Project What can we do to improve our Arcade Creation? I think we can improve on directions and making the characters stronger. I want to improve this because someone could not understand the directions and break the game or characters. Specifically, how would we do this? I would rewrite the directions and make another layer to the characters. This is going to make it easier for the players and my partner and me. Reflection on Process What did you learn to do with the Cruise Arcade Project? I learned to be creative and to include fun ideas into the project. It is fun to learn from your mistakes and make something better. What do you know now that you didn’t know before doing the Project? I learned the design process and the other stages to making our game. I also learned that you can try again if you mess up and it will be great, just how you made it. What can you do now that you couldn’t before doing this project? I can now make an arcade game and how to work with a partner when making a game. What did you like about the project that helped your learning? I liked learning from my mistakes and rebuilding the game. What could have been done differently to help your learning? I think nothing was bad; it all made fine sense about the stages, and everything else!
A Final Reflection:
If I could make Spaceman vs. Alien better, I would do a better job on the rules and directions. The design of our game was a little tricky to make, but we did it. It took a while to finish it. I did not enjoy it at first,; but then, I realized how good it was. Then game week came, when classes came in and played our games. It was so much fun watching kids enjoy the game we made. The fourth grade classes came to play each other’s games. I got to play some awesome games that my friends made. I think my partner and I did a pretty amazing job with our game. We ran into some problems on game week - sometimes the game started to come apart and break, but we handled it. I really enjoyed making and learning about the engineering design process and how well you can make something by starting with just cardboard!
Crusie Arcade Game Presentation - Gaming Week:
Project Based Learning ...
Hurricane! To the Rescue! - PBL Steps:
Emergency Management Specialist Launch Activity
Hurricane! To the Rescue! Group Challenge
Driving Question:
How can we, as Emergency Management Specialists, design and create Discovery Center Hurricane Preparatory/Survival Kits and other Relief Outreach Items for Disaster Victims?
Knowledge and Skills:
What is an Emergency Management Specialist Professional?
Product:
What are Examples of Preparatory-Survival Kits and Other Outreach Items?
Presentation:
How can we, as Entrepreneurial Journalists, create and publish nnNet, an on-line Discovery Center magazine and Student-Owned-and-Operated-Stockholding Business, to support and share the projects of our Discovery Center?
Culmination:
How can we, as St. Paul’s Discovery Center Kids and using all that we have learned through our PBL project, design and create navigable rescue vessels for our Hurricane! To the Rescue! Sailing competition?
Cardboard Boat Blueprints - Koska 4Ab "The SP Discoverers" - "The Chesapeake"
Discovering ...
What Does ‘Discovery’ Mean?
I think discovery means to learn, because you find out new things. Discovery is important because we would not know what dinosaurs were and what it was like back then without it. It means trying new things out. Here is an example of me finding dinosaur bones in the desert. If we did not discover what we had discovered earlier, we would not know as much to day.
Cooperating and Collaborating ...
Team Banner
The Engineering Design Process ...
Research Paper
Identify the Problem
How can we, as Caine has inspired, demonstrate through teamwork our imagination, determination, and passion for creativity and innovation, with our own arcade constructions?
Explore
What Makes an Effective Professional Arcade Game?
I researched a game called Rollin' to find out what makes an effective professional arcade game. The creator is Burkhard Ratheiser. You control a rolling ball on a platform that is moving and has holes in it. You are on the platform, and you must avoid the holes as the ball rolls. You can jump over the holes with the space bar and move with the arrow keys to avoid the holes. The game directions are located at the bottom of the screen. I think the level of difficulty is a 4 out of a 4 star rating. You win the game by moving from level to level to get to the end of the game. When you win the game, you can play again.
The materials I think you need to build the game are a lot of cardboard, tape, glue, and scissors. I think it would cost $25 to build the game and about $30 to buy the game.
The title of the game is Rollin, and the URL address is:
http://ww1.freearcade.com/Rollin.jav/Rollin.html.
Design Brief
What is the Concept Design of My Crusie Arcade Game?
We are building an arcade game called Spaceman vs. Alien. You play the game with a partner. The objective of the game is you need to push the opponent back in to a bell. The rules of the game will be displayed on each player’s side. We think that this game’s level of difficulty is 3 out of 1-4. You win the game by pushing the opponent’s character into a bell, then the bell will ring, and that will show you win. You will win the game and be given 5 tickets. If you have 5 tickets you can get a small prize. If you have more than 10 tickets you can get a big prize.
Our blueprint shows a good look at what our game looks like. The blueprint shows the characters on each side of the box, and our game takes place on the moon. There is a slot in the middle of the box where you can push the characters back and forward. There is a bell located on each side of the box.
A few materials that are going to be in our game are, cardboard, tape, bottle caps, foam balls, 3 bells, scissors, and a few prizes. We think that it would take at least 10 classes to build this game. Some problems that we foresee happening would be we lose parts, a part breaks off, and if a piece does not work. If anything does happen we would shut down the game until we fix it. If that does not happen we would not have to worry about anything.
Create
What are the Stages of the Building Process?
"It Began" ... "It Transformed" ... "It Became" ... "It Will Be" (PowerPoint)
Try It Out
What were the Results of Testing Our Game?
Examiner: Mrs. Horst
Date: 1/31/13
Praise: Very impressive! I like how you used the pennies to balance the characters. I love how the tickets come out of the box. I like how your prizes are organized and liked the game.
Question: Could you possibly move the bells closer together so the characters do not get stuck in the middle.
Polish: Maybe consider labeling the bells.
Student Comment: Thank you, my partner and I worked very hard on Spaceman vs. Alien. We also worked hard to balance the characters. The tickets were not as hard to put in because we just needed to cut a slot in the box. I do not understand what you mean by maybe move the bells closer together so the characters do not get stuck in the middle, but if we talk again you can explain it to me. That is a good idea to label the bells because someone might think it is something else.
Examiner: Mrs. Dunn
Date: 2/4/13
Praise: Amazing! Love the idea and the characters.
Question: Did you have fun making it? Was it hard?
Polish: Make directions more clear.
Student Comment: Thank you, we got the idea for Spaceman vs. Alien from Rock’em Sock’em Robots. We got the characters from our imagination. I did have fun making the game, and it was hard to make because it started to fall apart some times. I do think the directions do need to be clearer because someone might not understand them and they could break the game.
Examiner: Mrs. Koska
Date: 1/31/13
Praise: Love the death zone, safe zone. Love how you got the idea. I like how you work together.
Question: How did you get the idea for the game, Rock’em Sock’em Robots.
Polish: Toughen opponents so they will not fall apart.
Student Comment: Thank you; it took a while… for the idea of Spaceman vs. Alien to come to mind. We liked working with each other, too. We did get the idea from Rock’em Sock’em Robots. I do think we need to toughen up the opponents so they do not break.
Orthographic Design for Crusie Arcade Game:
PowerPoint for Creation of Crusie Arcade Game:
Crusie Arcade Game Examinations:
How Can We Make the Crusie Arcade Game Better?
Reflection on Project
What can we do to improve our Arcade Creation?
I think we can improve on directions and making the characters stronger. I want to improve this because someone could not understand the directions and break the game or characters.
Specifically, how would we do this?
I would rewrite the directions and make another layer to the characters. This is going to make it easier for the players and my partner and me.
Reflection on Process
What did you learn to do with the Cruise Arcade Project?
I learned to be creative and to include fun ideas into the project. It is fun to learn from your mistakes and make something better.
What do you know now that you didn’t know before doing the Project?
I learned the design process and the other stages to making our game. I also learned that you can try again if you mess up and it will be great, just how you made it.
What can you do now that you couldn’t before doing this project?
I can now make an arcade game and how to work with a partner when making a game.
What did you like about the project that helped your learning?
I liked learning from my mistakes and rebuilding the game.
What could have been done differently to help your learning?
I think nothing was bad; it all made fine sense about the stages, and everything else!
A Final Reflection:
If I could make Spaceman vs. Alien better, I would do a better job on the rules and directions. The design of our game was a little tricky to make, but we did it. It took a while to finish it. I did not enjoy it at first,; but then, I realized how good it was. Then game week came, when classes came in and played our games. It was so much fun watching kids enjoy the game we made. The fourth grade classes came to play each other’s games. I got to play some awesome games that my friends made. I think my partner and I did a pretty amazing job with our game. We ran into some problems on game week - sometimes the game started to come apart and break, but we handled it. I really enjoyed making and learning about the engineering design process and how well you can make something by starting with just cardboard!
Crusie Arcade Game Presentation - Gaming Week:
Project Based Learning ...
Emergency Management Specialist
Launch Activity
Hurricane! To the Rescue! Group Challenge
Driving Question:
How can we, as Emergency Management Specialists, design and create Discovery Center Hurricane Preparatory/Survival Kits and other Relief Outreach Items for Disaster Victims?
Knowledge and Skills:
What is an Emergency Management Specialist Professional?
Product:
What are Examples of Preparatory-Survival Kits and Other Outreach Items?
Presentation:
How can we, as Entrepreneurial Journalists, create and publish nnNet, an on-line Discovery Center magazine and Student-Owned-and-Operated-Stockholding Business, to support and share the projects of our Discovery Center?
Culmination:
How can we, as St. Paul’s Discovery Center Kids and using all that we have learned through our PBL project, design and create navigable rescue vessels for our Hurricane! To the Rescue! Sailing competition?
Cardboard Boat Blueprints - Koska 4Ab "The SP Discoverers" - "The Chesapeake"